BOE candidate Priano unloads on Council over duCret matter

Resident Timothy Priano is a 2018 candidate for the Board
of Ed. The original image with this post (from the 2017 BOE
race was removed).

Like the rest of us, Timothy Priano has his positives and his negatives.
On the plus side, in the little over a year CORRECTION: IN THE LITTLE OVER TWO YEARS since he has lived in Plainfield, he has established himself as the maven of public spaces.
His obsession with the cleanliness of streets and other public spaces brought him to the attention of the community and helped mobilize residents who turn out for his periodic public clean-ups.

The less positive side was on display at City Council's September 14 business meeting where he made an unwarranted and unhelpful attack on the Council during public comment.

Unwarranted because the Council has nothing to do with the matter he brought up.

Unhelpful because if he intended to help duCret in a matter, he ended up annoying the Council and the Mapp administration.

Councilors sat with puzzled looks as he castigated them (without specifics) about a "performance bond" he alleged dated back to 2004 and was still not settled.

Councilor Storch -- the only sitting Councilor who might remember the matter -- told me he did not recall the issue and further that Priano had not reached out to him about it.

Mayor Mapp said, "I am not familiar with what he (Priano) spoke about."

THE BACKGROUND

It seems that the matter dates back to the early 2000s, when duCret subdivided its property which originally ran from Central Avenue through to Field Avenue.

A portion on the Field Avenue side was sold to a developer; part of the deal was that that developer would put up a boundary fence and pave duCret's parking area.

In the event, the fence was erected and the rear of the lot -- nearest the fence -- was paved and striped.

The developer put up one house, and before the rest of the paving (along the side of duCret) could be done, the developer went belly up.

There things sat for several years, until a new developer bought the undeveloped properties on Field Avenue and put up two more houses, filling out the original concept.

The new developer was evidently not party to the paving agreement. Over the years, a duCret board member inquired of the City concerning the cash portion of the performance bond on the original developer's deal -- which had been forfeited when the developer went under.

Though it is understandable that duCret would like to see the paving of its lot finished, the school had no part in or claim to the cash the City holds on the performance bond.

All of this Priano could have ascertained with a couple of conversations or phone calls, just as I did.

But he evidently did not do that, choosing instead to unload with both barrels on the Council in public session.

I am told that the City is working on resolving the issue and may in fact be close to a resolution that would see the balance of the paving at duCret finished.

This is not the first time that Priano has spoken out before doing his homework.

Something for voters to bear in mind as they approach voting on November 6 for Board of Ed candidates.

NOTE: The original image with this post, from the 2017 BOE campaign had a headline using the "TAP INTO" phrase without first seeking permission from the online newspaper of that name. Just another example of Priano's modus operandi.

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 -- Dan Damon [ follow ]

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